Analysts said there was now concern over leadership at the country's fifth-largest conglomerate.

"Lotte Group is currently in flux," said Park Ju-gun, head of research firm CEO Score.

"Its businesses are mainly domestic. Shin has attempted to expand Lotte overseas by growing its chemical business and retail presence in Asia, but that is expected to grind to a halt - at least until the appeals ruling,"

The group generates around 30% of its sales from China, but businesses there have been harmed by a political spat between Beijing and Seoul over South Korea's installation of a US missile defence system. Around 80% of its stores have been shut in China as part of the backlash.

At home, Lotte's duty free operations rely heavily on Chinese tourists but it has been under pressure following a crackdown on tour groups from China travelling to the South Korea.

Shin Kyuk-ho founded the Lotte group in the 1940s and built it into a sprawling giant that today has dozens of units focused on food, retail and hotels in South Korea and Japan.

Lotte is just one of the country's influential family firms, or chaebols, caught up in the corruption scandal.